Crazy busy two weeks! (Twenty-second and third weeks)

It’s been crazy at the Anderson house for the past two weeks. We just returned from our vacation to Alabama and Destin, Florida last Friday. We were in Alabama celebrating my parents’ 25th Wedding Anniversary! They made it 25 years! That’s exciting to me because there are so many marriages that don’t make it that far anymore.

Anyway, it was a great party. My Aunt Vicki, Sheldon and I decorated the hall the night before the party. I had made many of the arrangements from out of state, so I was a little worried how everything would come together, but everything worked out perfectly. The wedding cake was beautiful, the flower arrangement was perfect, and Sheldon the chef cooked a lovely meal of hamburgers and sausages! (My parents request was for a cook-out – they didn’t want anything too fancy.)

After the party, my parents, Sheldon and I headed to Destin, Florida to the Henderson Park Inn, a bed and breakfast on the beach. Beautiful! I loved it! The water was a perfect tropical blue color and the sand was white and soft. The bed and breakfast provided a gourmet breakfast each morning, a chef-prepared bag lunch each day at noon (that you can pick up anytime you want), and free bottled water, soda, and candy bars stocked in the mini-fridges around the inn. Oh, and they also served homemade cookies and lemonade everyday from noon to two! Who would ever want to leave this place?! Not to mention each room has its own private balcony, a huge bathroom with whirlpool tub for two and a comfy king-size bed. Ahhhh…

Sadly, we had to leave on Wednesday. My parents stayed through Friday. Lucky. We arrived in Waco at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, just in time for my doctor’s appointment. We were able to find Sophie’s heartbeat right away – a strong 148 beats per minute. The doctor said everything else looked good and sent us on our way. I’m supposed to have the glucose test appointment at my next visit. Fun stuff.

This weekend was nice, but didn’t provide much rest. After being away for a week and realizing we only have an estimated 120 days until Sophie’s debut, we decided it’s about time to start clearing out the soon-to-be baby room and making space for the new furniture and fun baby stuff. We were successful in moving stuff from one room to another, but we have a whole list of other projects that need to be completed before we have our little bundle to take care of.

I don’t feel like we’re too far behind though because we’ve already ordered the crib, picked out the paint colors for the walls, and started our registry (though it’s not finished yet). I have a feeling that every weekend until go-time in October will be filled with one project or another. Life won’t be the same anymore, but it’s a good change.

I have more to fill you in on, but I’ll stop for now. Here are some fun vacation pictures to enjoy!

Twenty-one weeks and counting

Today little Sophie is 21 weeks (gestational age). Only 19 more to go! Time is flying by and Sheldon and I have barely just bought the crib! Pretty soon we’ll have a little girl who will be taking all of our time, so we’ll have no time to clean out, organize, decorate…or do anything else.

Sophie’s kicks have become more frequent and stronger in the past couple of weeks. I can pretty much feel her every day now, but not for very long periods of time. It’s a weird-cool feeling. It’s nothing that I can even remotely explain. You mamas out there will know what I’m talking about, as for everyone else just try to imagine the feeling. It’s like a light flick on your skin, but coming from the inside of your stomach. Or a gas bubble without the end result. Or like a rubber ball rolling on your skin, from the inside. Whatever the feeling, it makes me smile when I feel it.

We still can’t feel or see her little kicks from the outside yet. I’m looking forward to that day when my belly moves by itself and I can see Sophie’s little body changing position. I’m sure that’ll be another weird-cool experience.

Since my belly has grown considerably in the past few weeks, I find myself belly-gazing a lot recently. When I’m riding (not driving…haha) in the car or thinking about something at work, instead of staring off in the distance, I’ll stare down at the bump that is my stomach. I still can’t believe there’s a little living, breathing human in there. It’s amazing.

Speaking of the bump, here’s a recent picture of the growing belly and some friends from work.



Oh, BabyCenter says, "Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now."

Celebrating the half-way mark!!

My baby’s half-baked! Haha! Just kidding…but she really is to the half-way mark on her pre-birth development. I’m so excited I can’t stand it. I have 20 more weeks to go and I already want to meet her. But I’ll be patient and give her time to finish be created.

Sheldon and I decided to celebrate the half-way point by making a trip to Austin in search of the perfect crib for our little girl. We found it! And we bought it! But we don’t get it for another week or so. Apparently, Babies-R-Us’ definition of “this item is current IN stock” means the item is in stock in the warehouse, which is up north somewhere. So we’ll have our perfect crib in about 7-11 business days.

Here is a sneak preview…





We also threw in a little treat for the mom-to-be and went out to eat at a Greek restaurant. Soooo yummy! I’ve been craving Greek food for at least a month now and sadly the closest Greek restaurant to Waco closed several months ago. The place in Austin we went to is called El Greco and it was near UT, so it was kind of an artsy area which was fun. I indulged myself in all the tsatsiki sauce I could handle and the fresh pita bread and baklava weren’t bad either.

Back to the baby stuff, we also picked out the crib bedding set we plan on registering for and I broke down and bought the fleece blanket that goes with the set. I couldn’t help it, it was so cute! And I have to have something to hang over the edge of the crib.




(This is the crib set we're planning on getting. It's little ladybugs.)

Sheldon also picked out a little dress for little miss Sophie. Of course I had to buy it because Sophie’s daddy picked it out. It’s a little cream-colored corduroy dress with light pink polka-dots. The back is button-up and the little buttons are pink, heart-shaped buttons. So cute. I don’t have a picture of the dress, so you’ll have to wait until Sophie is wearing it on her birthday this year.

And last but not least…Sophie’s full name will be Sophia Kate Anderson. (Pause for “aw’s”). I know, it’s so cute, isn’t it?

Nineteen Weeks - Almost half-way there!

I can’t believe I’m almost half-way through my pregnancy. I don’t even think I’ve grasped the concept of being pregnant yet. I stare down at my belly in awe, wondering what our little girl will look like when she makes her debut. I also like to poke at my belly because it feels so weird. It’s like a large water balloon has permanently attached itself to my stomach, but I don’t “feel” any different in my abdominal region unless I poke the outside of it.

I see the pictures from the ultrasound, but it’s still hard for me to believe that the little person portrayed in the pictures is actually a living, breathing, being inside my stomach! It’s so crazy. I’m not sure how one is supposed to “feel” when she’s pregnant. I feel all the side effects – like my whole body is falling apart – but I don’t feel the baby as much yet. So I guess that’s what I’m waiting for. I’ve felt Sophie’s “flutters” and I’m ready to feel her really move!

BabyCenter says that my baby’s sensory development is “exploding” and her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. It also says that she should be able to hear my voice now! I hope she doesn’t pick up on my off-key singing voice when I’m jammin’ out in my truck.